hi guys, thanks for both your replies. after sleeping on it, came to the same conclusion you did....my reaction was a nasty knee-jerk response and probably not entirely necessary.

i guess what angered and surprised me initially was that this is the first time i've ever had a problem picking up old gear on craigslist. everyone else i've ever dealt with has been very honest about their gear (already have a few other good tanks to show for it!) as a whole, it seems the dive community is pretty good about this.

yea, this board is a great resource, appreciate everyone posting good info here (esp. that Alum 6351 alloy thread, which i wasn't aware of before either).